Nick was lucky enough to cover the BassMaster Classic in Houston, Texas last weekend. Read his take on BASS’s largest tournament of the season in this week’s blog post.

Combine NASCAR-heavy advertising, omnipresent BBQ, a zillion American flags and high-flyin’ largemouth bass, and you’ve got the 47th annual BassMaster Classic, held last week on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas. I was able to cover the tournament for Outdoor Life Magazine, and let me tell ya, it was an eye-opening experience on a whole different level. To start, 25 year old Jordan Lee, won the whole thing in only his second eligible year. That’s impressive in a field of 52 of the best bass anglers in America. Lee tossed a Strike King Bullworm on a ½-ounce shakey head and also used a Strike King 5XD.

Being a Jersey homer, I hung out with Jersey native Mike Iaconelli, who placed 6th at the event, where he spilled some secrets on his rigs. Ike tossed a Carolina Rig, comprised of a 6-inch Berkley PowerBait Lizard, ½-ounce barrel sinker, and 3/0 VMC offset worm hook. He also had some luck finding bucketmouths using a Berkley Bottom Hopper and Berkley Devil Spear, while casting with 25-lb Berkley 100% fluorocarbon. A couple of the interesting products I saw there were the Live Target Bait Ball series, specifically their Glass Minnow and Yearling patterns. These lures are gonna be killer on striped bass when all they are feeding on is bay anchovies and spearing. Also, you have to check out the Savage Gear Suicide Duck. It’s so ridiculous looking, but it catches pike and I have seen it actually hook a redfish in Louisiana. Ok, technical specs aside, I have to say that the entire BassMaster experience is one fun gig.

Being behind the scenes to socialize with the likes of Ike, Kevin Van Dam, and Bill Dance kind of brought me back to those early days of fishing as a kid when all I knew of was largemouth bass. Little did I know that when I opened that piece of mail and joined the B.A.S.S club in 1984 would I be covering the BassMaster nearly 33 years later. I guess it came full circle, and I still have that B.A.S.S patch buried somewhere in my gear. No doubt, just being around so many bucketmouth obsessed anglers has reinstated my drive to go hit the sweetwater once again. Its all about getting back to your roots, where you first learned to love that tug on the line.